Tuesday, September 25, 2007
What a match!
A billion hearts skipped a beat when Misbah scooped the ball up towards fine leg. 4 balls left and 6 to get, it was anybody's game. Pakistan had fought back valiantly from a position of sheer hopelessness to bring themselves within a whisker off victory. It was the last pair batting out there and Joginder Sharma was the bowler facing the music. The ball started its descent and the camera lens were still focussing mid-air with TV viewers having no clue as to where she was gonna land. Sreesanth had a forgettable outing with the ball and looking to redeem himself, got underneath the ball and pocketed her safely, in what was the most important catch of his life. Misbah knelt in despair and the Indians had their feet nowhere on earth. Yet again India had beaten Pakistan in a cricket world cup encounter. If ever you wanted to see agony and ecstasy at the same time, this was the place. India are the T-20 cricket world champions.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Apologies to my readers!
I have received some flak for the extended length of the blog 'Anatomy of God'. For new visitors; you can skip the first four paragraphs. It's just an (now I am convinced) unnecessary precursor. The symbology is described from para 5.
Sunday, September 09, 2007
Anatomy of God
As usual I boarded the 8.17 am local train for Pune. You would normally expect first class compartments to be relatively vacant. But, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. Either, people are more than willing to shell a few extra bucks, or railways seem to be hiring more employees. These employees get to travel in trains for free, in the compartment of their choice. Of course, gents should not board the ladies bogie, unless they want to be nagged to death by the lovely ladies. Ladies, who forget what love is when they see the opposite sex in their territory, which in this case, is a train compartment. I have seen strong men being shoved out like garbage by the so-called weaker sex.
On this particular day, there were no untoward scenes, and in the packed FIRST CLASS compartment I got to rest my buns on the - oh so difficult to get - fourth seat. I managed to get a few frowns from the third seat passengers, until finally a friend had showed some sympathy and squeezed himself to make some space. I was in no mood to talk or listen and quietly started to snooze. Indian Railways for some strange reason has this wonderful gift of lulling the most active of people into sound sleep. Yes, sleep can become so sound that you might get to hear all kinds of snores. Snores that sound different from each other but the tone always remains the same, PATHETIC!
A beautiful girl held her arms out and stretched them wide. Wide enough, as if to offer me a hug. Why the hell would I want to stop myself? I ran towards her, and just as I reached her, I stopped. I gazed into her eyes. Black eyes, beautiful eyes, deep eyes, smiling eyes... oh my goodness, I was in love. Just as I was about to pull her into my arms, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I woke up. Indian Railways, does it again!!! I rubbed my eyes. I can't tell whether I snored, but anyway I was smiling at my friend who boards this train one station after mine.
After a few handshakes, I looked out of the window. The sky was overcast, and the weather, quite muggy. There was a slight drizzle. I and my friend mutually agreed that the number of passengers was increasing by the day. We talked about how difficult traveling is during the summer and the rains, especially in the hustle and bustle. We also concurred that winter was the best time to be in such trains. Ganesh Chaturthi was just around the corner. We discussed on how it rains heavily just before the festival and invariably stops when the immersion day (Anant Chaturdashi) arrives. He commented on how people get drunk and create nuisance on that day. "I agree", I said and shook my head in disgust. I seemed to agree at just about anything, but what unanimously got our nod was about to follow.
"Talking of Lord Ganesh I remember", my friend spoke,"there is a scholar called Swami Chinmayanand, who has done a research on the Elephant God". "This man has explained the significant impact each part of the Lord's body has; on the way we should lead our life". Now, I got all attentive. I like listening to such topics. I am sure you would like too. The credit should obviously go to my friend who really enlightened me and increased my reverence for the Lord. If there are any brickbats please throw them at yours truly, and I will accept them, just like the girl in my dream did, with open arms.
"We have these month-end get-togethers at our office", my friend continued, "Where we invite some external person to give us a lecture. A lecture, on something we don't associate with our normal work-life. Something to get us out of our monotony". "A gentleman with Ph.D in zoology had come this time. He opened our eyes to what he had read about Lord Ganesh in Swami Chinmayanand's book. And, this is what he had to say". By now I was wide awake and listening with intent. My friend noticed this, and he was not going to disappoint me. He was sure and so was I. Smiles.
He carried on,"If you notice Lord Ganesh, there's something rather illogical about His anatomy. It's biologically impossible to fix even a baby elephant's head on a human body. Then why is Lord Ganesh so different? Different from all the other Gods. There's a meaning to each and everything about Him. Let's start with the head. It's a large head and it signifies knowledge. How? Because the larger the head, larger the brain and larger the information it can store and analyse this information to gain knowledge. How do we get the information? Mostly by listening. Hence the large ears. The more you listen the more you know. Why the small eyes? So that you have an eye(s) for detail. Then the trunk. Well, let’s take the case of a bulldozer. It's a machine powerful enough to bring down a building, to wreak havoc with its strength. On the other hand, imagine a semi-conductor manufacturing lab, where robots are dexterous enough to assemble chips and wires no thicker than a human hair. Now interchange the roles of the bulldozer and the robot. Will they be able to do their jobs? Certainly not! But, the elephant's trunk can lift quintals of load, bring down huge trees and do many such powerful acts. At the same time, it is deft enough to pick up a needle or a blade of grass from the ground, shake the mud off, and relish it. Just like that, a human being should be able to do both kinds of tasks, heavy and light, with equal aplomb. Now let's move over to the tusks". A station was about to arrive and some passengers started to move towards the door. The train stopped and my friend had to make way for the barging crowd.
After a while the train moved again. My friend took a deep breath and went on further. "The tusks", he said pointing near his nose, "you know why one of them is broken? It signifies imperfection. We don't live in utopia and should not chase perfection. That will simply make us unhappy. Learn to live with the imperfections, and you would never complain". "How true!",I exclaimed. "Yeah, now for the hands", he continued. "Lord Ganesh has 4 hands. One holds an axe, which signifies the fighting spirit. The weapon you should possess to ward off your problems. Problems, that might try to strangle you like tentacles of an octopus, but which you can chop off with the axe, your fighting spirit. The second hand holds a rope. This signifies self-control. The rope will pull you back and put you in your place when you get carried away. The third hand has its palm facing you. It's blessing you. You can never achieve everything without someone's help. So you got to also be that someone and be supportive and be a blessing to others. The fourth hand holds a dish of sweets (Modak to be precise). This is the sweet fruit of your labour, your hard work. Work hard and the fruit can never be bitter".
Superb, I thought. My friend knew I was enjoying this and he had more. He spoke,"Look at the belly of Lord Ganesh, it's large. It might look funny, but then again it has significance. What is that? Well, a storage area, and a massive one at that, for knowledge. Digest this knowledge and you end up enlightened. Look at the legs, they signify two things. Logical and Emotional intelligence. Use them properly. Do not mix them. For instance, a close friend of yours has had a bereavement. He or she is completely collapsed. Would you go and say that, it's just the body that is dead, the soul is immortal? As per the religious scriptures this is logical. But, your friend would be infuriated at this show of reasoning. Emotional intelligence would be to say a few condolent words, and logical intelligence would be to inform the relatives of the deceased, arrange for the funeral and the like. Also, if you notice, one leg is folded while the other is touching the ground. The folded leg is the emotional intelligence and the folding means, you have to keep your emotions under control, and logical intelligence tells you to have one foot firmly on the ground".
"Awesome!",I cried. "Well there is one thing left, although it's not a part of the Lord's anatomy. The mouse! The carrier of the Lord. But again, a mouse cannot bear the weight of human hand, let alone a full body. But ever seen what a varied appetite the mouse has? It can eat anything almost anything. Edible, non-edible doesn't matter. It will feast on anything it can nibble. What does it signify? It signifies unwanted desire. Hmm, yes desire. The root cause of all evil. Normal humans want everything. Desire keeps them running behind all sorts of things, even if they are not needed. Desire only what you deserve". There I was struck; my mom's words reverberated in my head. She keeps telling me,"Son, only desire what you deserve". "So how do you curb your desire?", my friend asked. I just stared blankly. "By sitting on it dude", he patted my shoulder. "Yes, that's how! And that's why the Lord is seated on the mouse, which tells us to stop our desires from running around, trying to gobble up everything. So you see it's not just a simple idol, you just got to idolize it".
I shook his hands vigorously. I thanked him profusely before he alighted at his stop. Man!!! You need to listen to such stuff everyday, I thought as I walked towards my cab. I got into it and told my cab-mates about this when one of them told me to blog this, thanks pal. So here it was.
On this particular day, there were no untoward scenes, and in the packed FIRST CLASS compartment I got to rest my buns on the - oh so difficult to get - fourth seat. I managed to get a few frowns from the third seat passengers, until finally a friend had showed some sympathy and squeezed himself to make some space. I was in no mood to talk or listen and quietly started to snooze. Indian Railways for some strange reason has this wonderful gift of lulling the most active of people into sound sleep. Yes, sleep can become so sound that you might get to hear all kinds of snores. Snores that sound different from each other but the tone always remains the same, PATHETIC!
A beautiful girl held her arms out and stretched them wide. Wide enough, as if to offer me a hug. Why the hell would I want to stop myself? I ran towards her, and just as I reached her, I stopped. I gazed into her eyes. Black eyes, beautiful eyes, deep eyes, smiling eyes... oh my goodness, I was in love. Just as I was about to pull her into my arms, I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I woke up. Indian Railways, does it again!!! I rubbed my eyes. I can't tell whether I snored, but anyway I was smiling at my friend who boards this train one station after mine.
After a few handshakes, I looked out of the window. The sky was overcast, and the weather, quite muggy. There was a slight drizzle. I and my friend mutually agreed that the number of passengers was increasing by the day. We talked about how difficult traveling is during the summer and the rains, especially in the hustle and bustle. We also concurred that winter was the best time to be in such trains. Ganesh Chaturthi was just around the corner. We discussed on how it rains heavily just before the festival and invariably stops when the immersion day (Anant Chaturdashi) arrives. He commented on how people get drunk and create nuisance on that day. "I agree", I said and shook my head in disgust. I seemed to agree at just about anything, but what unanimously got our nod was about to follow.
"Talking of Lord Ganesh I remember", my friend spoke,"there is a scholar called Swami Chinmayanand, who has done a research on the Elephant God". "This man has explained the significant impact each part of the Lord's body has; on the way we should lead our life". Now, I got all attentive. I like listening to such topics. I am sure you would like too. The credit should obviously go to my friend who really enlightened me and increased my reverence for the Lord. If there are any brickbats please throw them at yours truly, and I will accept them, just like the girl in my dream did, with open arms.
"We have these month-end get-togethers at our office", my friend continued, "Where we invite some external person to give us a lecture. A lecture, on something we don't associate with our normal work-life. Something to get us out of our monotony". "A gentleman with Ph.D in zoology had come this time. He opened our eyes to what he had read about Lord Ganesh in Swami Chinmayanand's book. And, this is what he had to say". By now I was wide awake and listening with intent. My friend noticed this, and he was not going to disappoint me. He was sure and so was I. Smiles.
He carried on,"If you notice Lord Ganesh, there's something rather illogical about His anatomy. It's biologically impossible to fix even a baby elephant's head on a human body. Then why is Lord Ganesh so different? Different from all the other Gods. There's a meaning to each and everything about Him. Let's start with the head. It's a large head and it signifies knowledge. How? Because the larger the head, larger the brain and larger the information it can store and analyse this information to gain knowledge. How do we get the information? Mostly by listening. Hence the large ears. The more you listen the more you know. Why the small eyes? So that you have an eye(s) for detail. Then the trunk. Well, let’s take the case of a bulldozer. It's a machine powerful enough to bring down a building, to wreak havoc with its strength. On the other hand, imagine a semi-conductor manufacturing lab, where robots are dexterous enough to assemble chips and wires no thicker than a human hair. Now interchange the roles of the bulldozer and the robot. Will they be able to do their jobs? Certainly not! But, the elephant's trunk can lift quintals of load, bring down huge trees and do many such powerful acts. At the same time, it is deft enough to pick up a needle or a blade of grass from the ground, shake the mud off, and relish it. Just like that, a human being should be able to do both kinds of tasks, heavy and light, with equal aplomb. Now let's move over to the tusks". A station was about to arrive and some passengers started to move towards the door. The train stopped and my friend had to make way for the barging crowd.
After a while the train moved again. My friend took a deep breath and went on further. "The tusks", he said pointing near his nose, "you know why one of them is broken? It signifies imperfection. We don't live in utopia and should not chase perfection. That will simply make us unhappy. Learn to live with the imperfections, and you would never complain". "How true!",I exclaimed. "Yeah, now for the hands", he continued. "Lord Ganesh has 4 hands. One holds an axe, which signifies the fighting spirit. The weapon you should possess to ward off your problems. Problems, that might try to strangle you like tentacles of an octopus, but which you can chop off with the axe, your fighting spirit. The second hand holds a rope. This signifies self-control. The rope will pull you back and put you in your place when you get carried away. The third hand has its palm facing you. It's blessing you. You can never achieve everything without someone's help. So you got to also be that someone and be supportive and be a blessing to others. The fourth hand holds a dish of sweets (Modak to be precise). This is the sweet fruit of your labour, your hard work. Work hard and the fruit can never be bitter".
Superb, I thought. My friend knew I was enjoying this and he had more. He spoke,"Look at the belly of Lord Ganesh, it's large. It might look funny, but then again it has significance. What is that? Well, a storage area, and a massive one at that, for knowledge. Digest this knowledge and you end up enlightened. Look at the legs, they signify two things. Logical and Emotional intelligence. Use them properly. Do not mix them. For instance, a close friend of yours has had a bereavement. He or she is completely collapsed. Would you go and say that, it's just the body that is dead, the soul is immortal? As per the religious scriptures this is logical. But, your friend would be infuriated at this show of reasoning. Emotional intelligence would be to say a few condolent words, and logical intelligence would be to inform the relatives of the deceased, arrange for the funeral and the like. Also, if you notice, one leg is folded while the other is touching the ground. The folded leg is the emotional intelligence and the folding means, you have to keep your emotions under control, and logical intelligence tells you to have one foot firmly on the ground".
"Awesome!",I cried. "Well there is one thing left, although it's not a part of the Lord's anatomy. The mouse! The carrier of the Lord. But again, a mouse cannot bear the weight of human hand, let alone a full body. But ever seen what a varied appetite the mouse has? It can eat anything almost anything. Edible, non-edible doesn't matter. It will feast on anything it can nibble. What does it signify? It signifies unwanted desire. Hmm, yes desire. The root cause of all evil. Normal humans want everything. Desire keeps them running behind all sorts of things, even if they are not needed. Desire only what you deserve". There I was struck; my mom's words reverberated in my head. She keeps telling me,"Son, only desire what you deserve". "So how do you curb your desire?", my friend asked. I just stared blankly. "By sitting on it dude", he patted my shoulder. "Yes, that's how! And that's why the Lord is seated on the mouse, which tells us to stop our desires from running around, trying to gobble up everything. So you see it's not just a simple idol, you just got to idolize it".
I shook his hands vigorously. I thanked him profusely before he alighted at his stop. Man!!! You need to listen to such stuff everyday, I thought as I walked towards my cab. I got into it and told my cab-mates about this when one of them told me to blog this, thanks pal. So here it was.
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